City of Chicago - City Hall

Chicago’s seat of government and fifth-floor mayor’s office is located in a 10-story columned Neoclassical building that opened in 1911 in the heart of the downtown Loop district. Its most famous occupant, Richard M. Daley, was one of America’s most powerful mayors, dominating Chicago politics and wielding national clout within the Democratic Party as mayor for more than two decades (1955-1976). He undertook multiple ambitious capital projects that helped Chicago maintain its strength and influence, although his legacy also suffers from criticism that he worsened racial inequality with policies and projects that discriminated against poor Black neighborhoods and deliberately blocked them off from white ones. His iron-handed leadership style came under fire nationwide in the turbulent year 1968 for saying police should “shoot to kill” after a wave of riots erupted in April following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and again for advocating a police buildup and forceful crackdown on protesters who flocked to Chicago for the National Democratic Convention in August. The special commission appointed to investigate the violent clashes that took place placed the blame on Daley’s police in its Walker Report findings, calling the events a “police riot” directed at protesters.

The 10-story Neoclassical building with a striking columned façade in the heart of the downtown Loop district has served as Chicago’s seat of government since 1911 – its seventh city hall dating to 1837, all on or near the same block. The mayor’s office is located on the fifth floor of the city-county offices complex. 

No Chicago mayor has left a bigger legacy than Richard J. Daley, known as the last of America’s big-city bosses, whose 21 years in office (1955-1976) were exceeded only by his son Richard M. Daley’s 22 years (1989-2011). The senior Daley orchestrated a revitalization of the city with capital projects that included O’Hare International Airport, the Sears Tower, multiple expressways and subway extensions, and other major Chicago landmarks. Chicago’s racial segregation is a major blot on his legacy however, as he is blamed for using highways and housing projects to separate Black neighborhoods from white ones and building high-rise public housing in poor Black neighborhoods, more deeply entrenching the inequality that plagues the city.

Daley was known for ruling the city with an iron hand, a reputation solidified in 1968, one of the most turmoil-filled years of the 20th century, due to his aggressive and controversial orders involving protesters and the violent tactics used by the city’s police force during the Democratic National Convention. The mayor had signaled his unforgiving stance toward protesters in April when, following the wave of deadly rioting in Chicago and other cities after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., he ordered police to “shoot to kill” any arsonist or person with a Molotov cocktail in their hand in any future riot. Ahead of the convention in August, which drew a large number of anti-Vietnam War protesters, Chicago mobilized for combat on Daley’s orders. The city doubled its usual police contingent to nearly 12,000, working 12-hour shifts: 5,000 Illinois National Guardsmen were standing by near downtown, 6,000 specially trained army troops were flown in, and up to 1,000 FBI and military intelligence officers were deployed to assist Daley’s mobilization. Daley denied protesters’ applications for march permits and turned the International Amphitheatre, the since-demolished arena near the Chicago Stockyards that hosted the convention, into an armed camp dubbed “Fort Daley,” surrounded by barbed wire and riot police and with snipers on the roof.

Daley’s extreme precautions owed in part to the violence at the just-ended Republican National Convention in Miami, where snipers shot at police, armored personal carriers patrolled the streets, and three people were killed. However, his saber-rattling and buildup up force only encouraged the police misbehavior that occurred during the convention, the Chicago Daily News said in an editorial after the riots, “in the confidence that such harsh measures were expected of them in dealing with demonstrators and the news media.” The special commission appointed to investigate the violent clashes between demonstrators and police concluded in The Walker Report that the blame lay squarely with Daley’s police, characterizing the events as a “police riot” directed at protesters. Daley’s popularity in Chicago was scarcely affected. He went on to win a landslide victory in the next mayoral election in 1971 and also won a sixth term in 1975 before dying in office in December 1976.

Bloburn, Dean. Accessed October, 2022. www.chicago68.com.

Chicagology. “The City Hall and Courthouse Buildings”, Accessed October, 2022. https://chicagology.com/courthouse/.

City of Chicago. Chicago Landmarks, City Hall - County Building. Accessed October, 2022. https://webapps1.chicago.gov/landmarksweb/web/landmarkdetails.htm?lanId=1277.

Golden, Jr., Harry. "Daley Orders ‘Shoot to Kill’ for Arson." The Washington Post Hoover Institution Library and Archives April 16th, 1968.

Kusch, Frank. Battleground Chicago: The Police and the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Praeger Publishers, 2004.

Mike, Royko. Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago. E.P. Dutton, 1971.

Sealock, Miriam. The Use and Abuse of Police Power in America: Historical Milestones and Current Controversies. Volume Chicago Police During the 1968 Democratic National Convention. ABC-Clio, 2017.